Case Analysis: the Early Bird †Electric Power Load Despatching

field of study Analysis The premature Bird Electric authority Load Despatching The Early Bird Electric Power Load Dispatching Electric utility firms catch, for more than two decades, used marginal productmarginal cost concepts to generate and clear electric automobile exponent in a more efficient, lowercost manner. grey Company, the nations third largest utility, refers to its freight dispatching method as the Early Bird system. Southerns Early Bird is designed to take into account automatic, computerized control of all the high societys causation production and transmittal facilities.The Early Bird interminably calculates the marginal cost of delivering additional kilowatts of electricity to Southern Company customers anywhere in the companys service area then, as electricity demand rises or falls at points throughout the system, Early Bird transmits raise or lower impulses to the companys generating units and routes the correct amount of electricity on the most eco nomical transmission path to the end user. Periodically, Southern Company engineers test the run qualification of every piece of power-generating equipment the company has in service.The purpose of the test is to determine how much fuel, labor, and former(a) uncertain inputs are required to produce electricity with that unit and, subsequently, to calculate a production function for that generating unit. fuck off has shown that revised production function equations must be calculated from time to time because normal offend and tear, maintenance problems, and mechanical efficiency vary over time and from generator to generator, depending on who manufactured it, when it was purchased, how grand it has been in service, and the reliability with which it has performed.In other words, the production function for a given generating unit shifts by sufficiently large amounts over time to derive it worthwhile to update the input-output equation. The equations for the production function s of each generating unit are then federal official into Early Bird and combined with information as to fuel prices, charter rates, and other variable input prices to obtain marginal cost functions from these, MC values can be calculated for a particular proposition generating unit at whatever rate it is being operated.In addition, because at that place is a personnel casualty of electricity in the course of shipping it through the transmission wires, Southern engineers make studies to determine the transmission loss coefficients from generating units to distribution sub post. These, too, have to be updated several times a year since the transmission loss depends not only on the distance factor but also on the varying load characteristics of the system and changes in the transmission grid.The marginal cost equations, together with the transmission loss coefficients, are the nucleus for Early Birds control of power generation and transmission. When, during the course of a day, th e demand for electricity picks up, the Early Bird system is programmed to compare the marginal costs of generation at each online unit and then to send impulses to raise the electricity output of the unit (or units) where MC is lowest.Simultaneously, another Early Bird program analyzes the transmission loss coefficients to calculate how best to allocate the change magnitude load on the transmission grid so as to decrease transmission loss to the galore(postnominal) substations and end-user locations. In similar fashion, when electricity demand falls off (as work shifts end and businesses close at the end of the day), the Early Bird system automatically sends impulses to reduce electricity generation at those power units where MC is highest and reroutes the remaining load to maintain maximum transmission economy and load-generation balance.At periods of peak demand, when on-line generating units are already operating at or near their minimum cost points, and assuming that water s ystem levels in Southerns dam reservoirs are ample, Early Bird sends impulses to Southerns hydroelectric facilities to open the gates and generate enough power to get across the peak. Southerns power system control center is also equipped to forecast short-term loads for the next hour, day, or week. For example, weather data from all round Southerns four-state service area are fed into the Early Bird network several times a day to help forecast oestrus and air-conditioning loads.The hourly, daily, and weekly Early Bird forecasts of upcoming load demands are used to preplan the mix of generating units to put on line and those to put on standby, to schedule maintenance, and to determine whether to exchange clam ups of electricity with neighboring utilities. For instance, approximately 15 minutes prior to the beginning of an hour, Early Bird calculations as to the next hours generating and transmission costs are made this information is then compared immediately with similar informat ion obtained from adjoining utilities having interconnections with Southerns transmission network.If it is determined that it would be more economical for Southern to buy a block of electricity from an adjacent company than to generate the electricity needed itself (because at the forecasted generating rates the other company will have lower MC than Southern), then an order is placed for that unit at a price set forth in the interchange agreement between the two companies. On the other hand, if Southerns marginal costs are lower than those of its neighbors, then it may agree to make out a block.The exchange of electricity among interconnected companies based upon marginal cost calculations is common throughout the electric utility industry. As bigger and faster computers have become available, the functions of the Early Bird system have been expanded to permit. 1. Reductions in unnecessary load-chasing, with resultant savings on maintenance 2. Monitoring the current operating statu s of generating units, line flows, voltages, station breakers, and switches as a basis for assessing the prevailing degree of security (reliability) deep down the system . Altering the dispatch criteria to allow for reducing power output at a particular facility because of unexpected air or thermal pollution, yet doing so in a mien which entails the least increased costs to the system 4. Operating hydro, steam, combustion, and nuclear generating units in a mix which seeks to minimize fuel costs and 5. Monitoring temperatures, oil pressures, stream flows, and so on at unattended hydro stations to give early notification of potential troubles.